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EXCLUSIVE: HOUSE GOP WANTS MEDICARE DETAILS— Hinting that the Medicare savings President Obama touted last week – trimming $480 billion from Medicare and Medicaid through 2023— are not backed up with specifics, the chairmen of the House Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce committees are requesting that the president release a more detailed proposal. “As our Committees seek to reform the Medicare program, we require much more information before we can properly consider the savings target you have proposed,” Chairmen Dave Camp and Fred Upton write in a letter to the White House obtained by POLITICO. “[I]t is unclear from where or how those reductions in spending are achieved.” The POLITICO Pro story http://politico.pro/gY256d

Good Wednesday morning and welcome to another edition of PULSE. “All night, till the morning we Pulse so long.” (Hat tip: Abby McIntyre)

FRATES GETS BACK INTO NEWSLETTER WRITING BIZ— Pulse editor emeritus Chris Frates is debuting POLITICO Influence today. The newsletter will cover trends and practices shaping Washington’s influence industry as well as giving a look at who’s snapping up the top talent, what firms are landing the big contracts and the tidbits that make the cocktail circuit go ‘round. POLITICO Influence will publish every afternoon on POLITICO and POLITICO Pro. Subscribe here: http://politi.co/gCwIz2

HAPPENING TODAY— Secretary Sebelius and Education Secretary Arne Duncan are holding a conference call to introduce an effort to inform graduating college seniors about their new health insurance options under the Affordable Care Act.

THE NEXT ABORTION BATTLE…THAT MIGHT NOT HAPPEN— Republican legislatures across the country are passing tough new anti-abortion laws – and while abortion-rights advocates believe the new laws are unconstitutional, they’re not rushing to court to stop them. Idaho and Kansas passed “fetal pain” laws last week, similar to a Nebraska law that has been on the books for a year, and 14 other states are looking at the bill. The laws have so far gone unchallenged by abortion rights supporters – who tell POLITICO they’re not sure a Supreme Court challenge would land in their favor. The POLITICO Pro story http://politico.pro/fvf2XU

SHOT— JOST: BROKERS BILL WOULD ADD TO THE DEFICIT— NAIC consumer advocate Tim Jost goes after Michigan Rep. Mike Rogers’s MLR bill in a POLITICO op-ed, calling it “special interest legislation” that would increase the deficit. “It would increase both the deficit and the cost of health insurance. In the process, it undermines one key consumer protection created by last year’s Affordable Care Act,” he writes. “Higher premiums resulting from adding commissions as an extra administrative cost will likely add, literally, tens of billions of dollars to the deficit in higher tax credits, deductions and exclusions.” The POLITICO op-ed http://politi.co/hmoBQF

CHASER— BROKERS BILL GETS NEW DEM SUPPORT— A few more Democrats have signed on to support Rep. Mike Rogers’s bill to remove brokers’ and agents’ commissions from the MLR calculation. Late last week, Reps. Mike McIntyre (N.C.) and Peter DeFazio (Ore.) signed on as co-sponsors. The bill now has support from 10 House Democrats.

KYL GOES OFF THE RECORD— Sen. Jon Kyl has quietly removed his infamous comment that 90 percent of Planned Parenthood’s business is abortion from the congressional record. Senators are allowed to revise and extend their comments in record and his statement now simply says: “If you want an abortion you go to Planned Parenthood and that is what Planned Parenthood does.” Kyl’s office could not be reached for comment.

ANTI-REFORM DEM COULD GET A PRIMARY CHALLENGE— Democratic Rep. Daniel Lipinski dodged a bullet last year — his vote against the health care law came after he had already won his primary. But the Chicago-based congressman still might have to answer to his party for it. Democrat John Atkinson, a wealthy insurance executive and health care activist, has launched a campaign against Lipinski and zeroed in on his opposition to the legislation. Atkinson is no ordinary primary challenger — he raised more than $535,000 during the first quarter, the top haul of any House Democratic challenger and more than four times as much as the four-term congressman raised during the same period. His recently released campaign finance report shows that he contributed $270,000 from his own pocket and that Atkinson received many contributions from the financial and health care industries. The POLITICO story http://politi.co/hDuZiu

AHCA WANTS OUT OF EMPLOYER REQUIREMENT— The American Health Care Association, the largest trade group representing nursing homes, will seek exemption from the requirement that employers provide health insurance or pay a fine said the group’s president, Mark Parkinson, during a roundtable with reporters. Twenty percent of direct care workers are currently uninsured, and many employer-sponsored plans will likely not meet the standards required in 2014. The POLITICO Pro story http://politico.pro/e0wzr6

COLORADO EXCHANGE BILL MOVES FORWARD— A bill to begin setting up a state insurance exchange passed through a joint legislative committee in Colorado yesterday. Republicans introduced an amendment to detach the exchange from federal health reform and the AP is reporting that “some Republicans say they'll vote for the exchanges only if Colorado also rejects the federal plan.” The state has a Republican-controlled House and a Senate controlled by Democrats.

TEXAS TAKES ANOTHER EXCHANGE SHOT...— And it comes from state Sen. Steve Ogden, the Republican who chairs the Texas State Finance Committee, who is introducing a bill to establish a health exchange – after most action looked to be tabled by a looming veto from Gov. Rick Perry. The bill would establish the Texas Health Connector as "the vehicle for a health insurance exchange as required by the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act."

...BUT PERRY WON'T BITE— His office tells PULSE that its stance on the health reform law has not changed: Texas will not implement the law until the federal court challenges are settled.

AT LEAST THERE’S SOME COMMON GROUND— Columbia Business School Dean R. Glenn Hubbard makes no effort to hide his opposition of the health reform law — he’s written an entire book on the issue — but at a Tuesday lunch hosted by the American Enterprise Institute, he found one thing he can agree on with an administration official: former OMB director Peter Orszag’s proposed “safe harbor” approach to medical malpractice reform, outlined last year in The New York Times, which would protect doctors who follow evidence-based guidelines from litigation. “That’s something I would very much support,” he said.

CMS CUTS HOSPITALS BY ALMOST $500M— CMS released the inpatient proposed rule Tuesday that would slice payments to hospitals in 2012 by $498 million – a 0.5 percent cut compared to 2011. The American Hospital Association immediately issued a statement saying they are "deeply disappointed" and the rule would "put further stress" on inpatient hospitals' ability to care for Medicare patients. The cut comes on top of $155 billion the hospitals will see in cuts over the next 10 years as a result of the ACA.

GOP REALLY WANTS THAT CLASS INFO— Several top Senate Republicans are asking Secretary Sebelius to release documents written before the health law was passed relating to the CLASS Act. They argue that Sebelius agreed to release the documents at a March 16 hearing but hasn’t done so yet. The letter is signed by Sens. Hatch, Thune, Enzi and Sessions. The letter http://politico.pro/fXON4e

TOMMY THOMPSON LIKES MEDICARE REFORM, OR DOES HE?— The former HHS secretary writes in a HuffPo piece that he likes the idea of Medicare reform and is encouraged by Paul Ryan’s “important conversation.” But then he suddenly says he doesn’t support Medicare cuts. “Simply cutting Medicare isn't the answer by any means.” The op-ed http://huff.to/eqbXfr

WHAT WE’RE READING by J. Lester Feder

A new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that Americans oppose entitlement cuts as the solution to fiscal problems. http://wapo.st/enm7XQ

The New York Times's Robert Pear recaps the opposition to IPAB from both sides of the aisle. http://nyti.ms/gNbIaw

The FDA is requiring some manufacturers of painkillers to produce educational materials on prescription drug abuse, reports The Wall Street Journal. http://on.wsj.com/eL8z6c

The NY Times gives a snapshot of the effect of prescription drug abuse on one Ohio town. http://nyti.ms/hK3tJN

Community Health Systems Inc. has moved that a suit brought by Tenet Healthcare Corp. alleging overcharges to Medicare be dismissed, according to Bloomberg. http://bloom.bg/gG1Y7Y

A powerful New Jersey lawmaker close to a major insurance broker moves to shut down state insurance plan, reports The New York Times. http://nyti.ms/dGHsSX

A conference committee in the North Dakota legislature has reached a deal on creating a committee to deal with state response to the Affordable Care Act, reports the Bismarck Tribune. http://bit.ly/h7Gm4M